From Strategy To Action With A Personal Operating System

If you’ve ever ended a week exhausted and still unsure what actually moved the needle, you don’t need more hacks, you need a system. We take everything built so far around clarity (what you want, why you want it, and how you’ll get it) and turn it into a Strategic Action Plan you can run week after week, especially if focus and follow-through are a real challenge for you.

We break the plan into four parts that work together: your marketing plan, your buying plan (a professional sales process built around choice, not pressure), your operations plan, and your implementation plan. From there we get specific about marketing as visibility plus attraction, then walk through five platforms that reliably create prospects: social media (pick two, don’t scroll your life away), email marketing (your email list as a core business asset), your website and basic SEO, the right events, and “personal observation” which is simply talking to real people where they already are.

Then we map the six-step buying process: the initial conversation, a discovery interview where you listen far more than you talk, clear recommendations, a concise benefits-focused presentation, the simple ask, and follow-up that prevents you from ghosting your newest best client. We close by tying execution to a personal operating system that turns plans into daily action so you’re not just busy, you’re productive. Subscribe, share this with a friend who’s stuck in planning mode, and leave a review with the one system you want to build next.

The Personal Operating System Course will help you become more focused, efficient and effective in your work. The Course will be available on June 25th! Here's the good news: it is a $199 value we're releasing initially for only $27. Link to the course on June 25th!

Transcript

Series Goal And Practical Focus

SPEAKER_00 0:01

This is the fourth episode of a series of Commission Code podcasts that prepare you to create your own personal operating system. Now, today we're going to get really practical, okay? We're going to talk about what you do with all that you've learned so far and all that you've done so far to be ready. My passion about business boils down to a great desire to help people increase revenue, and of course, that is your net income, and then have time to enjoy it. Creating a personal operating system based on having clarity about what you want from your business, why you want it, and the strategy you'll use to get it. Now that you have the answer to those three questions, the what, why, and how, the question becomes, what do I do? What do I actually do to implement my strategy? And the answer is this you create your strategic action plan. I'm Morris Sam. I work with business owners, professional salespeople, and anybody making a living on commissions or fees. If you're in that uh what is commonly called the eat what you kill kind of a job, you're my people. So many of the concepts that we're going to talk about can apply to anybody who believes they have a business to run, even if they're technically an employee with a boss and all the other things that accompany that kind of job. Your strategic action plan has four parts. None are more important than the others. All four are necessary to implement your strategy. And here they are. Here's just a laundry list of those four things. Number one, and again, not in any particular order, is your marketing plan. Who is your ideal client? How will you become visible to them? Where does your ideal client live, work, and play? And what marketing platforms will you use to attract them to your business? And the answer to that is usually what are the platforms where they spend time, your ideal client. Secondly, is your buying plan. And in olden days, we would have called that your sales plan. But since we've come to the realization that we cannot make somebody buy our product or service, that just doesn't happen. We need a system where we can discover what the prospect needs, what their problem is, and then show them a solution to that problem in an environment where they

The Four-Part Strategic Action Plan

SPEAKER_00 2:35

can choose to buy. It does require following a process to help the prospect get what they want. Check out this 38-second video by one of the best professional salespeople we've ever had in business. His name is Zig Ziggler. The link is in the transcript, but you can find it simply by going to YouTube and search Zig Ziggler Con Man. Here's what Zig says. An amazing number of people believe that a good salesperson can sell anybody anything under any circumstances. Well, that's crazy. Only a con man could do that. Selling in the professional sense is uncovering a need and then bringing to that individual the products or the goods or services that are going to fill and satisfy that specific need. So when we talk about sales, we're actually talking about a buying process. And that's all about professional sales. All right. Third thing in your in your strategic action plan is your operations plan. That creates the processes that you're going to go through, the systems that you'll use to find the right prospects, discover what they need, and help them get it. What specifically do you need to do to implement that strategy? This is part of the SAP, the strategic action plan. And it really boils down to creating systems that you're going to use to run your business. It's not only the marketing and buying process, this is the operations process. How are you going to implement your marketing and buying plan? What systems will you create to make it happen? And fourth is the implementation plan. You know, we can plan all day long and create all these wonderful detailed plans, but folks, if you don't get up off your chair, get up off the couch, and start doing what you need to do, your strategy will never become a reality. Yes, my friend, it all comes down to doing things, doing things that you planned. Yeah, there's a lot of preparation and planning and thinking required to get here. But this step is about deciding what you're going to do and when you're going to do it, and what the results are that you expect from doing that. Now, this this fourth step is where it is critical to have a personal operating system. Without a personal operating system, you may be taking action, but if your actions aren't in the proper order or done with effectiveness and efficiency, the plans you made may sit on the shelf and never help you get what you want. Or you find yourself being very busy, but not very productive. In other words, you're busy doing things, but it's not the stuff that's going to get your strategy implemented. Now, this is why the personal operating system is so very important to you as you build and grow your business. If you have challenges managing yourself, a personal operating system is the way to overcome those challenges. And we all have some of those challenges. Mine is ADHD, however you define that. That's one of my biggest challenges. And my personal operating system helps me stay focused on what I need to do in order to implement the strategy. We all need to know what to do next. And if you have to stop and think about it every time that you finish a project or a task, well, it's just not effective or efficient. There is a better way. And that better way is to create your own personal operating system. So let's get back to your strategic action plan with the understanding that you need that personal operating system to be able to implement the plans you make. And in doing so, implement your strategies so that you can get what you want. So let's let's recap here real quick. There are four parts of your SAP, your strategic action plan: marketing, the buying process, the operations plan, and the implementation plan. Let's talk with a little more detail about that first one, the marketing part. Let's talk about that because all the other parts of the plan come into play once you have someone who will engage with you in the buying process. That is, when you have somebody that's actually going to enter into a business conversation with you. Marketing is all about finding the right prospects and helping them to engage in that conversation. One way to think about marketing is making yourself and your business visible to the rest of the world. It's not about who you know, it's about who knows you. But it doesn't stop there. You then have to attract that person to you in your business. Visibility and attraction. That's what marketing is all about. Now there are five key platforms that you can use to improve your visibility and attract people to your business. Here they are. Again, in no particular order, but just five of them.

Marketing Means Visibility Plus Attraction

SPEAKER_00 7:54

The first one is social media, because that's one that everybody talks about. But it ain't the end all to end all, folks. It's just another platform. It's not the holy grail by any stretch. But it certainly is something that we have to recognize and participate in, but it's not the only thing. Email communication with your followers is you know, having that email list is probably one of your best business values. It has the best value to your business of most any of your assets. And it really, golly, it may be a newsletter or some way to add value, but you send it to the people that you want to attract. And there are platforms to help you do that and ways to make that happen. The internet, your website.

Five Platforms To Find Prospects

SPEAKER_00 8:43

Where do we all go when we want to learn something? We'll go to the internet. Google, YouTube, ChatGPT, or some other sources online. And when somebody asks a question about your business, you want your website to come up and excite them to click on the link and schedule time with you. Then there are events. We're talking about community events, social events, school events, neighborhood events, country club events, uh events at senior living places. Depends on where your ideal client is, right? There are events where your ideal client lives and where they are in their lives. But all of those exam are examples of events wherever they might be. A newly married couple is a part of, if that, if that's a part of your ideal client profile. Maybe you want to get involved in a wedding show in town. That would be an event where you could find your ideal client, married couples who are looking to do what married couples need to do, to plan their finances, to go on a honeymoon, to do all the things that you are looking for your ideal client to do. And lastly, but certainly not least, in fact, it's probably one of the highest converting options on the list. We call it personal observation. It's really simple. It's about getting out there and talking to people. Ideally, you want to talk to people who fit your ideal client profile so you go to things and places where they are. Talking to anybody about your business can be profitable. And normally, you've got to start the conversation. And we're going to talk about that language that you use as we go forward. But getting out there and talking to people, whether it's in line at Starbucks or while you're having your car worked on or at a fellowship opportunity at church, wherever it is, you can talk about your business. Now we talked about social media a minute ago. You know, there are a zillion different ones. So pick two. More than two, and you're going to spend all your time scrolling through social media instead of engaging with a real prospect. So pick two social media platforms you want to work on. Social media platforms where your ideal client goes, where they live. Pick two, schedule time to work on social. Time to create your posts and engage with responses. That's it. Social will not normally become your best source of prospects, but in today's world, we can't ignore it. But limit the time that you spend there. It can become a big black hole if you're not careful. So plan a specific amount of time and then try and stick to it. We mentioned email earlier, and it's been said that your email list is your most valuable asset in your business. That's where I got tongue-tied a minute ago, but that's what it boils down to. Your email list is the most valuable asset in your business. And I agree. Send out an email to your list on a regular basis. Probably not daily, but maybe every other week or something. You do that with that email marketing system, and there are a whole bunch of them to choose from. MailChimp is one that most everybody is familiar with.com used to be ConvertKit, but Kid.com is another one that a lot of folks use. Choose one platform. They're usually free versions that you can use when you get started until you're sending out thousands of emails. But your email that you send out should be all about adding value to the reader. You can end with a call to action, but this is definitely not the place, nor is social media, to send out a whole bunch of stuff and create content about, oh, we've got this great deal, or oh, this discount, or this, that, or the other. It's not a it's not a big billboard for you to put up the latest deal or idea that's come along. It's a place for you to add value to your prospects. The internet, your website. If you don't have one, get one. You can build it yourself for free in a number of different platforms, but you need a website. It doesn't have to be a $20,000 expertly designed and crafted and beautiful website to begin with. You just need a website. Now I'm no expert on SEO, and saying the right things to come up in searches is what SEO is all about, but there's a lot of information online about it. You just need to have a website, and the content should be all about the problems that you help people solve and how you solve them. So you're talking about their problems so that they can see some commonality and see that you have a solution to the kind of problems that they might have. I mentioned events, and I try to get involved in business events and speak to groups of people as much as I possibly can. You might even just get a booth or a table at an event. The objective is generally to get email addresses, because again, your email list is your most valuable business asset. Get contact information and then ask for a face-to-face place and time to discuss their problem in more detail and learn what they need so that you can show them how you can help them get what they want. Personal observation, again, the best converting option of any marketing particular piece that we have in here. Personal observation is getting out and talking to people. I know one of the highest producing agents in the insurance industry who taught me get in the longest line at the grocery store or at Starbucks or wherever you are and strike up a conversation. Everywhere you're in line, there's a potential prospect in front of you and one behind you. Personal observation extends to all the groups and activities that you're involved in. Chances are somebody is going to ask you, gee, Boris, what do you do? And you answer with your elevator talk. Your elevator talk. Some people would call that an elevator pitch, but professional salespeople don't pitch, only professional baseball players and little leaguers pitch. We provide information and we have an elevator talk. Mine goes something like this. Morris, what do you do? Well, I help business owners increase their revenue and you know, their income, and have more time to enjoy it. I say it all the time, and when I do, there's always a question from the other person that leads us into a business conversation. Notice it's concise, it's short, and it leads them to ask the next question, and we start a conversation. That's the purpose of this whole, if you will, elevator talk. The idea was it's something you could say from the time the door is closed till you get to the second

Elevator Talk And Booking The Meeting

SPEAKER_00 15:59

or third floor on the in the elevator ride. Usually when I when we've had this and we start that conversation, usually I just lead it to say, you know, Jim, this is probably not the best place for us to discuss your business. Can we get together for a cup of coffee next week? And I can share more ideas to help you. I'm open on Tuesday and Thursday. What's better for you, morning or afternoon? That's called a call to action. We're trying to get an appointment. That's where the business conversation can really get deep. We can get into discovery, and we can actually have that conversation that's going to allow you to be in a position to help them solve their problem. Because, you know, that I mean that initial conversation, it might be at the Kids Little League game or at a church event or uh wherever. And surely that's not going to be the best place for a detailed business conversation. So now it's up to you to follow the worksheet that you can download on the podcast page and start creating your marketing plan. That takes care of that one. Now let's talk about your buying system. Your buying plan, your buying system. I got to tell you, that's an entire course with a number of lessons all by itself. So let's just start with this. There are six steps in the buying process, and your plan, your systems need to address each step. Because when you miss a step, chances are you're not going to be in a position where they're going to buy something. And even if they do, they may never buy anything later on. These are important things to do. And not necessarily, sometimes they come in order, sometimes they come together. The situation is the boss, right? But here are the six steps that go into the buying process. First is the initial conversation. That's what we just talked about with the with with uh the whole idea of uh prospecting and and doing that face-to-face. The initial conversation. It might be over Zoom, it might be over the telephone, but it's the initial

The Six-Step Buying Process

SPEAKER_00 18:05

conversation where you open up that business conversation and usually ask for an appointment to go into more detail. Sometimes you're in a position to actually go into more detail right then. And if you are, that appointment becomes the second step, which is a discovery interview, where you listen 98% of the time and you only talk about 2% of the time. And most of the time you're talking, you're asking questions. Because your objective is to learn what they need, to learn what their problem is and why it's important to them. Then you can proceed to make recommendations to solve the problem, and that's the third step. Creating recommendations. The discovery interview ends when you know what they want and why it's important to them. That's the info you need to build the best recommendations possible. The fourth step is to present your recommendations. Now, I like to give them three options. This is not good, better, and best. This is three options that are about the same uh investment requirement, the same price. But and they each have their own benefits, and each one of them is where I present this. I present it and I share those benefits. Share the benefits, two, three, maybe four benefits of each one, and I do it concisely. This is not pros and cons, this is the benefits. That's the focus, not the features, but the benefits. That's the focus of your presentation. You answer questions and then you simply ask. Sally, which one of these do you think is gonna be best for you and your family? Or uh Jane, which one of these do you think is gonna be best for you and your business? That's all. That's it. That's the call to action. That's the point where you're asking them which one they want to buy. And it's simply which one do you think is gonna be best for you? When they answer it, then you proceed with whatever your process is to complete the uh used to call it the paperwork, but now it's all digital. But where you complete whatever that process is and they pay the deposit or the premium or they sign the contract. Then the last step, number six, you then follow up to ensure that they get what they want. This is your newest BFF. Don't ghost them. Stay in touch. The chances are extremely good that they will buy from you again because you built that business relationship. They know, like, and trust you. They bought from you. So chances are they're gonna be the best opportunity you have for somebody who will want to buy from you in the future. Now, we talked about your operations plan, and that's your processes. And I say that it's plural because there's more than one. And a process can become a system. It's where you build out systems that you're gonna use to run your business. By definition, a system is a process, a set of proven steps that when you do them the same way every time, they generate positive results. What can you create a system for and automate to improve your effectiveness and save you gobs and gobs of time? Your implementation plan is the next step. That's the next part of your SAP, right? Well, that's putting it all into your personal operating system so that you'll actually do what you need to do. Again, the hardest part of this whole thing is not the planning or the deciding, it's the doing what you plan to do. We used to say you gotta work, you gotta plan your work and work

Operations Systems Then Implementation

SPEAKER_00 21:53

your plan. This is where you put your weekly plan together, and that becomes and that builds actually. Your daily plans, then you know exactly what you need to do each day of the week that's coming up. That's a bit more detailed than that. And we'll get into those details in the personal operating system course, and the course that'll help you increase your income and have more time to enjoy it. Well, that does it for this series of podcasts. I hope you'll join me in the personal operating system course. I'll have a link for you in the system that you can choose to click on. This kind of course, well, it normally has a tuition in the hundreds, but I'm going to offer the course for $27. I want it to be available to a wide audience who needs these concepts that we teach. I hope to see you in the group office hour sessions on Zoom when you get into the course, because when you do get into the course, we'll have open QA office hours sessions for us, me and you, to be able to have a conversation about whatever's on your mind. Thanks for engaging and listening. I really wish you the very best. I'm Morris Sims.